Accidental Painkiller Addiction
You may have started taking painkillers with good intentions. They were prescribed by the doctor to get over a surgery or a chronic pain. Alternately it may have just been recurring headaches, menstrual cramps or toothaches. Unfortunately more and more painkillers are being prescribed in the UK, see this link for more information.
Danger
The problem is once you have tried a painkiller and felt your pain just disappear it feels a bit like magic beans, just take them and the pain is gone! It’s hard to avoid taking them for more and more minor things. This can be particularly dangerous as like any drug with more being consumed eventually you need higher and higher quantities to produce the same affect.
Addictive?
On top of that most painkillers are actually opium based, as in they are a cousin to heroin. Heroin’s addictive qualities are very well known but what often isn’t known is how these painkillers can very often cause addiction too.
However it occurred, accidental addiction does happen and to those who would never suspect it. The problem is it acts like any addiction, eventually you cannot live without it, or you stop getting the same kicks from it as in the past and one drug can often lead to another, like Luke’s story.
Vicious Cycle
Addiction is often accompanied by a tolerance to the drug, which builds up over long term use. This tolerance means you feel in need of a regular supply of the drug. Surprisingly this is not usually because the original pain is unbearable but rather that you begin to suffer withdrawal effects when the painkiller is not taken. This manifests itself as pain and flu-like symptoms, it could include headaches, nausea, soreness and spasms.
It is easy to see how those withdrawal symptoms would lead you straight back to another painkiller, and potentially a stronger one and into a more and vicious cycle.
